Sick Inside
by hearts183
Summary: Troy and the rest of the gang are heartbroken when Gabriella suddenly leaves town. Several months later, their lives collide, leaving everyone devestated. Mild language, rated T to be safe. Eventually Troyella, with ChadGabriella friendship.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: In this story, we're assuming Gabriella's midwife is helping her with her pregnancy. Gabriella has regular doctor's appointments, but is going to deliver at home, hence the presence of the midwife. Thanks for understanding. This is my first attempt at fan fiction, so any reviews are greatly appreciated! I hope you enjoy it. Also, I'm not sure how this will turn out, I tried to douple space it, but we'll see. Please forgive any mistakes!

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I wish I did, but that's never going to happen. Anyway, not mine, not mine, not mine.

The young girl paused as she climbed up the winding staircase of her Southern California home and clutched her rotund stomach. She inhaled slowly and cursed under her

breath.

"Just three more months," Gabriella muttered, referring to the fact that she had reached the sixth month of her pregnancy the previous week. Regaining her composure, she mumbled to herself about the difficulties of two story homes and reached the top of the stairs.

"Gabriella, sweetie?" her mother called from the room at the end of the hallway.

"Yes, Mami?" she called back, waddling over to the room from which her mother called.

"Your doctors appointment is in a few hours. You know I would go with you, but I just got called in to work. Perhaps someone else could go with you..?" her mother hinted shamelessly as the younger Montez stuck her head in the door.

"Mami!" Gabriella cried out, "You have got to be kidding me! I didn't tell him when I found out, and there is no way I'm going to tell him now. It has been six months and I haven't changed my mind." Her mother stared back blankly, obviously shocked by the young girl's outburst.

"What on earth are you talking about, Gabriella? I was suggesting you call your midwife, Miriam. What did you think I meant?"

Blush crept slowly into Gabi's cheeks, making her face feel warm under the light of her mother's home office. "Oh. Okay," she whispered. Her mother frowned and furrowed her brow simultaneously. These little outbursts had become fairly common since the pair had moved from New Mexico to California and even more frequent since Gabriella's most recent ultrasound revealed she was having twins. She feared her daughter was regretting her decision to move so suddenly after finding out about the pregnancy without telling anyone.

"I'm going to go call Miriam, Mom, good luck at work," Gabriella sighed and closed the door before walking down the hall to her bedroom.

Gabriella fought back tears as she surveyed her bedroom. Two small cribs sat on either side of a modest changing table along one wall. Fingering the soft fleece bedding that lined the crib closest to her she felt a wave of sadness. She had used most of her savings to prepare for the babies. Unlike other mothers, she hadn't had a baby shower. She didn't know anyone in California other than Miriam, and none of her friends from East High knew of her pregnancy. The shrill ring of her cell phone interrupted her reverie.

She walked as fast as her growing belly allowed to the purse resting on the desk in the corner of the room. Her eyes widened at the name that appeared on the screen: Troy. She desperately wanted to answer it, but knew she had to stick to the decision she had made six months ago. She hit ignore and made a mental note to get a new cell phone number. It would only get harder to avoid his calls.

When Gabriella left Albuquerque she never once told anyone she was moving. Her phone rang incessantly for three straight weeks, though she never answered a single call. Slowly, the calls dwindled and after about two and a half months she stopped getting calls from anyone at East High at all. But that had been nearly four months ago. Why was he calling now?

Suddenly, her phone rang again. This time it was Chad. She ignored it again, despite a nervous feeling growing in her gut.

Another call came in. Taylor. Now she was really concerned. Why were they trying to contact her again? The calls kept pouring in. Kelsi. Jason. Sharpay. Zeke. Ryan. Troy. After twenty minutes of solid phone calls, Gabriella gave in and listened to Kelsi's message.

"Um, hey Gabs," the voice sounded nervous as it crackled through the speaker. "Its Kelsi. God I hope you remember me. We miss you like crazy here. Of course, we don't really know you aren't here. Well obviously you aren't at East High, but that's all we know. I know you, Gabriella, and I know you wouldn't just disappear like that for no reason. But moving out in the middle of the night? Yeah, Troy talked to your neighbors to find out. What happened that you couldn't talk to us about? Please, Gabriella, just call one of us. Even if it's just for closure."

The click on the end of the line signaled the end of the message, making Gabriella remove the phone from her ear and hold down the power button to turn it off. Kelsi's voice was so sad, she couldn't bare to hear anyone else plead with her. Instead, she called Miriam and arranged for her to take her to the doctor's that afternoon.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed. Your comments mean a lot to me! This chapter is really short, but I'll have another one up in a couple of hours. Sorry about any mistakes.

Disclaimer: As I mentioned before, I would love it if I owned them, but I don't.

Gabriella returned from her doctor's appointment in an incredibly bad mood. This was rare for the girl known for her sweet disposition, but she was pissed all the same.

"Bed rest?" she exclaimed to Miriam for the third time as the midwife helped her out of the car.

"It isn't uncommon in twin pregnancies," the woman tried to reason with the seventeen year old.

"I swear to God if I could get my hands on Troy, I would throttle him!" Gabi growled angrily as she avoided Miriam's attempt to help her and struggled to get out of the car on her own. Spotting the woman's puzzled expression she grumbled, "The father."

"Ah. Perhaps when he comes into town for the birth you'll be able to kill him. Assuming he's the one who will be with you," Miriam said airily, not realizing how wrong she was about her client's life.

"He's not." Gabriella mumbled almost inaudibly as she finally managed to stand up. Once Gabriela was settled in bed, Miriam said her goodbyes and let herself out, leaving the girl to fume in peace.

"Urgh!" Gabriella shouted. She had never imagined she would end up on bed rest. Keeping herself busy was what kept her from contacting Troy or any of her old friends. Without anything to distract her, she was afraid she would give in to temptation. She grabbed her cell phone and used the speed dial to call her mother. She started yelling as soon as she heard the click at the other end.

"They put me on bed rest! I still have three months left before they're born! Three months! I want to kill Troy for doing this to me. Three months of laying in bed, just getting bigger and bigger. I know what you're going to say, twin pregnancies are usually shorter than average ones. Who cares? How am I supposed to keep myself busy? I mean, running errands and going for walks, it was all that kept me from calling any of them. Did I tell you? They called me today. All of my old friends! Of course I can't answer any of their calls but it's only going to get harder, especially know that I don't have anything else to do!" Gabriella shouted into the phone, not giving her mother any chance to respond.

"Gabi? Is that you?" the voice on the other end asked tentatively. Gabriella's face went pale. One glance at the phone confirmed her worst fears. That was definitely not her mother's number.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Well here's the next chapter. It's not my favorite, but it's at least slightly longer than the other's have been. A huge thanks goes out to all those who listed this story in their favorites, all reviewers, and everyone reading!

**Disclaimer: Not mine, not mine, not mine. I'm just borrowing.**

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Gabriella cringed outwardly before responding. "Hey Chad," she whispered into the receiver, her voice heavy with everything that had happened in the last six months.

"Oh my God, it's really you," he said breathlessly. She couldn't believe she was talking to him. It had been so long, and so hard on her. Gabriella knew she had brought all the pain on herself, but that did little to stop her heart from aching whenever she glanced casually into a mirror. Her reflection never failed to shock her. She was pregnant. At seventeen. This wasn't what she wanted for herself. Her dreams of college and graduate school were forgotten as she saved money for diapers and baby bottles. Chad's next words snapped her back to reality.

"He's not the same anymore. None of us are, but especially not him," Chad spoke softly as if afraid she would hang up, never to be heard from again. Shame and guilt came back at her full force, making her heart ache. A few minutes passed before Chad finally recognized she wasn't going to respond.

"Why?" he asked quietly, making Gabriella feel horrible. She never realized how hard it would be on everyone. She had thought about Troy, of course, but not any of her other friends.

"I'm sorry, Chad. You have no idea…" she stopped and let out a sob, which racked her body. Gabriella had never dreamed of having children like this. Her first baby was supposed to be born when she had her PhD, a husband, a house of her own. Being a single mother had never even crossed her realm of possibilities. "I can't.." her voice trailed off again and she took a minute before continuing. "I'm sorry, Chad. I just can't," she hung up the phone and cried into her pillow, wishing for a new reality.

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Gabriella awoke the next morning to her mother gently shaking her shoulder.

"What is it, Mami?" she yawned, stretching her arms and rubbing her eyes.

"I made you some breakfast," she placed a tray with a sky-high stack of pancakes on her daughter's lap. "Miriam told me about the bed rest. I'm sure it won't be bad, darling. You'll be able to read all the pregnancy books we got at the store last week.

Gabriella nodded disbelievingly as her mother said good bye and left for work. She ate her breakfast slowly, thinking back on her conversation with Chad. He sounded so hurt. Were they all in that much pain over her sudden disappearance? Was what he said about Troy really true? She scolded herself for thinking that way. She had screwed up her own life enough by getting pregnant. Troy's future was too bright, she couldn't take that away from him. She rubbed her stomach with the palm of her hand, praying silently that herbabies would have a bright future.

She squeezed her eyes shut at a sudden pain in her stomach. A loud groan escaped her lips and she grabbed her stomach tightly. When her phone shrilled loudly she didn't hesitate to grab it.

"Chad!" she cried between sobs as the pain worsened.

"Gabriella? What is it, what's wrong?" he asked, fear obvious in his voice.

"It's the bab…Oh God it hurts! What do I do?"

"Gabriella, I'm going to call 911. Where are you?" he questioned authoritatively. She gave him her address, occasionally yelling out in pain. He promised to call her back, but when the phone rang again, she was in so much pain she couldn't reach it. All she could remember was her door being forced open before she blacked out.

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Thanks again to everyone whose reading, and please don't hesitate to review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Okay, the story gets a little AU here. I need you believe Albuquerque is only an hour away from where Gabriella lives. Also, please forgive any incorrect or, um, impossible medical situations. They are completely made up. And don't worry, this is still Troyella. Just be patient, it'll come. Thanks!

**Disclaimer: Ha, I wish.**

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Chad raced into Los Angeles General Hospital and ran up to the first nurse he saw. "Gabriella Montez! Where is she?" he exclaimed, thourghly out of breath. She glared at him for yelling in the waiting room before typing the name into a nearby computer.

"Fourth floor, room 4957," she replied nonchalantly.

Chad dashed up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, and reached her room in no time. When he burst in the door, he saw her pale face resting against a pile of pillows. He had never seen someone look so sick. "Gabi?" he asked, not wanting to believe this was her.

Her eyes shot open at the sound of her name. It took a moment for her to fully understand what she was seeing. "Chad? What are you..?" She was physically exhausted, and even speaking was difficult.

"Oh God," he whispered, rushing to her side. He wrapped his arms around her and she cried softly into his chest. Though they had not gotten along at all when Troy and Gabriella first began dating, Chad and Gabriella had become incredibly close during the few months before she left. Whenever she fought with Troy, Gabriella was much more likely to turn to Chad than Taylor.

He rubbed her side to comfort her and his hand landed suddenly on her stomach. He glanced down in shock. "You're…pregnant?" he asked, not really making sense of what was happening.

Her eyes squeezed shut and she refused to let any more tears fall. Gabriella sat up a little but still held on to Chad's shirt. His hand remained on her belly. She kept her eyes on the floor when she spoke. "Six months. Twins."

He exhaled slowly and rested his forehead against hers. "You aren't…having them now…right?" She would have made fun of him for his question, but the whole situation was too far from funny to even try. Instead she shook her head and did her best to remember what the doctor had told her when she came to an hour ago.

"There was a blood clot in the uterine lining. My regular doctor saw it at my last ultrasound and marked it in my medical file, but she swore up and down it wouldn't be a problem. It moved to the umbilical cord and blocked the oxygen flow to the babies. I almost miscarried, but they did another ultrasound after they cleared up the clot. They're alright. For now at least," she whispered the last part, and didn't mean for him to hear it. Still, that had never stopped Chad before.

"You think they aren't okay?" his voice was soothing, but it only made Gabriella miss Troy and the comfort he always brought her.

"I'm not eighteen yet. Girls who give birth under eighteen are much more likely to give birth to premature babies with extreme health problems. The doctors don't think the clot started contractions, but I could still deliver them tomorrow or the next day! They don't even have white blood cells yet!" her voice grew louder with each word and she took a deep breath to calm herself down, "If they're born today, there is a ninety-nine percent chance they won't live to see tomorrow." Gabriella saw tears forming in Chad's eyes. He was about to speak, but was interrupted by a nurse.

"Hello, Ms. Montez. We spoke earlier. Right now we need some more information from you. We got all we could from the driver's license in the wallet on your bedside table, but, as a minor, your parents need to be contacted." The nurse gave her speech with little emotion and rarely glanced up from the chart clutched against her chest. Gabriella gave her mother's contact information and prayed the nurse wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"Very well. Now we just need the name of the babies' father," she looked up expectantly, glancing between Chad and Gabriella.

"Troy Bolton," she croaked shakily, turning away from Chad. His eyes met hers for a split second, and all the pain she feared was present in his eyes. The pregnancy had been a complete surprise to him, and he knew Troy didn't know. Once the nurse left, Gabriella took a deep breath and turned back to face Chad.

"When I found out, I knew this was my future. But Troy…Troy could still have that future. I loved him too much to take it away from him." Her voice cracked but she refused to let herself cry.

"Oh Gabi. Oh God, Gabi." She knew he felt bad for not being there and she squeezed his hand to let him know she wasn't upset that he had been mad at her. He held her close and, after a few minutes, she fell back into a fitful sleep. He laid her head against the pillows and walked out to find something to drink. Halfway down the hall, his cell phone rang. He frowned at the name on the Caller I.D. Troy.

"Hey, man."

"Dude, where the heck are you? I thought we were supposed to shoot some hoops today but you didn't show up at the park and you aren't at home."

"Well, I'm in a hospital in L.A." Chad anticipated his friend's shocked reaction.

"Um, what?"

"Look, you know how we all called Gabi yesterday, you know, trying to smoke her out?"

"Yeah…" Troy spoke slowly, clearly confused by the whole situation.

"Well, she called me last night. She thought she dialed her mom's number. She hung up when she figured out it was me." Chad listened carefully and heard his friend curse under his breath. He took it as his cue to continue. "I was going to tell you when we met up today, but I wanted to call her and try to talk to her first. When I called she was screaming and crying. Something was wrong with…I don't know. I got her address and called 911. Then I drove here to find out if she was okay."

Several minutes of silence passed before Troy spoke. "Is she?"

"Yeah, she's okay. But, dude, you need to get down here. You just…get here." Before hanging up, he told him how to get to the hospital. Chad prayed that somehow it would all be okay, if that was possible.

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Well there you are! I might update again tonight, or tomorrow morning, I'm not sure. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you sooo much to all the reviewers and readers. You have no idea how much your support means to me! I could never have imagined a more perfect response. There's quite a bit of Troy in this chapter, for those of you who have been waiting for him to make a real appearance!

Disclaimer: Yeah right.

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Troy Bolton had never been known for heroic or romantic gestures. Before Gabriella, smiling at a girl was all he had to do to have her falling at his feet. Once the love of his life came along though, she had him climbing up trees and singing on balconies. Troy adored Gabriella and knew she felt the same way about him. That was why he had never recovered from her sudden disappearance. Speeding along the interstate, Troy realized that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't the reason she left. He knew if he talked to anyone about it they would assure him that there was no way he was responsible, but that never changed how he felt.

_So, she left us and moved to Los Angeles?_ He thought bleakly, _Why LA though? It couldn't have been her mom's company. Gabriella mentioned that they always knew several months before a move. Unless, of course, Gabriella had chosen not to tell us. But why would she keep something like that from them? _He hated the thought of her baring a burden on her own.

He jumped out of the car and straight into the hospital, almost running into Chad, who was waiting to take him up to Gabriella's room.

"Whoa, slow down, dude. She's not going anywhere," Chad did his best to calm down his over anxious friend. Troy just glared at him. "Alright-y then, no time for jokes," Chad covered as he motioned for Troy to follow him into the building.

"Now, you have to understand…" Chad trailed off, not quite sure how much to disclose. "You aren't really going to believe it. And then your going to feel really mad, and then really sad. Hopefully you'll get to be happy at some point. You know, if you don't screw it up or anything," he smiled and patted his friend on the back, pointing to the door they had just stopped in front of. Chad left to get something to drink and Troy took a few moments to gather his thoughts before going in. Eventually, Troy realized he was going to have to see her. He owed himself that.

Opening the door, Troy came face to face with a curtain. _What? Why is that shield in front of her bed? Who are all these people? Why is…is Gabi screaming! What the hell is going on!_

Troy rounded the corner and saw Gabi screaming in pain with her feet in stirrups. Suddenly Chad charged in. He ignored Troy altogether and rushed to Gabriella's side. He spoke softly to her, still pretending Troy wasn't there.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here," his voice soothed her very slightly, "You're amazing. Just keep pushing, everything's going perfectly."

"Like hell it is!" she yelled, shocking Troy a little. "They are three months early! How are they-" her fit was cut off as she let out a blood curdling scream and officially gave birth to her first baby.

"Way to go, Ms. Montez. You just had a baby girl!" the doctor smiled warmly at the young girl on the gurney. Gabriella just closed her eyes and let the tears flow freely. Troy was in complete shock. She was pregnant. She was having a baby. It was early. They were earl…they? At the sight of her distraught face he overcame his shock and ran to her side, narrowly avoiding Chad, who jumped out of the way to make room.

"It's me, Gabi, I'm here. I'm right here. It's okay now, I'm with you." He cooed softly to her as she opened her eyes. He wanted to comfort her, but his presence seemed to upset her even more.

"NO! You can't be here. Just leave. Go to college, get married and be happy for God's sake! You can't stay here. I won't be the one who ruins your life!" she screamed, her sobs shaking her torso as she struggled to sit up against medical advice. She stopped paying any attention to Troy and Chad however when a petite nurse placed the newborn baby in a small plastic covered crib. "Wait-where are you taking…dead?" she choked out the last word as all remaining color drained from her face.

"Right now, Ms. Montez, the baby is alive but isn't breathing on her own. Nurse McKellar is taking the her to the neonatal intensive care unit. Once you deliver the second baby and we're sure you and both twins are stable, you'll be able to visit them there," the doctor who delivered the baby spoke gently, patting Gabriella on the shoulder before leaving her side to converse with a nurse dressed in pink scrubs.

"Oh God, it's all my fault! They might die! It's all my fault, I never should have…" Gabriella's guilt was so overwhelming, she knew she couldn't handle it in front of Troy and Chad. "You two," she pointed to them, glaring despite the tears in her eyes, "Need to leave this room, this hospital, this **_state_**. I moved for a reason. Now GO!"

The head nurse quickly walked in front of Chad and Troy, blocking Gabriella's view of them. Troy struggled to see over the nurse's shoulder and saw Gabriella's body relax instantly as she slumped back onto her pillow. The sight of her crying into her hands made his heart ache. He allowed himself to be ushered out of the room, though Chad put up a mild fight. Once outside, he leaned against the wall and let out a deep sigh. Four hours ago, he had been eating a sandwich, trying to remember whether or not he had homework due on Monday. **(A/N: Right, today is Saturday. And Gabriella is home schooled. ) **Now, Gabriella, the one girl he had ever loved was back in his life and having a baby. _His_ baby. Or bab_ies_, as the case may be. He had waited six long months praying that each day that she would be back. Now she was, but he didn't know how to feel. Gabriella was so upset, and he was the reason for her suffering. This thought broke his heart. As he slid down the wall, he longer held the tears in. Instead, he cried. He cried for her, he cried for himself, and for their newborn daughter. But most of all, he cried for her.

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**Well there it is. I hope you enjoyed it. Please don't hesitate to review!**


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Wow! There has been such a great response to this story. THANK YOU to all of you reading and reviewing. Your support has been incredible.

**Disclaimer: Believe me, if I owned it you'd know.**

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Gabriella wanted to cry, but there were no tears left to shed. She sat in a wheelchair between two beds in the NICU. In one bed lay Aurora, Gabriella's first born. The tiny baby weighed just under a pound and had startlingly underdeveloped lungs. On Gabriella's other side was Jacob. At one pound two ounces, he was far healthier than his sister. Dr. Stevens, who had delivered the twins had told Gabriella that he appeared to be doing fine, with no immediate health problems. His outlook was much better than his Aurora's.

Still, Gabriella refused to give up. She had lost to much in her life to let her daughter go. She read to them from her pregnancy book, ignoring the fact that they probably couldn't hear her and definitely couldn't understand her. She plowed through, pointing out inaccuracies as she read.

"Once you hit the sixth month of your pregnancy, baby will still be unable to regulate their own body temperature-Wait a minute. We know that's not true, don't we Ari? Dr. Stevens said herself your body temperature was healthy and a good indication of your development." Gabriella begged the nurses to let her stay with the twins, and most of them, at the sight of her heartbroken face, allowed her to. One nurse even brought her a hot cup of tea to drink when she shivered and cleared her throat in the cold, uninviting room. The hours passed slowly and Gabriella's exhaustion slowly took hold as her head rested on her shoulder.

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"Mrs. Montez, we are very sorry to wake you, but you asked that we do if something happened," a women with wide blue eyes stood next to Dr. Stevens, clearly unsure of whether or not she had done the right thing.

"Huh? Oh, yes. Something's wrong? Is it Aurora, did she die? Is Jacob alright?" fear seeped into her voice as she came to.

"Several minutes ago, Aurora stopped breathing. Her right lung collapsed because it is so underdeveloped. We re-inflated it almost immediately and put in a chest tube to insure that it wouldn't collapse again. I want to remind you Mrs. Montez, that this does not mean Aurora is going to die. She is now breathing normally with the tube. At the moment Jacob is doing very well. It's just a waiting game at this point," Dr. Stevens took over for the frightened looking blue-eyed girl.

"Oh, alright. So both twins are alive?" Gabriella wanted definite answers.

"Both twins are alive. As for you Ms. Montez, we need you to stay in bed. You just had major trauma to you lower abdominal in giving birth to twins. So I'm afraid you'll need to keep your visits to fifteen minutes every two hours. We need you to be doing well," the doctor smiled sympathetically, knowing how hard it was to be separated from one's ailing children.

Gabriella took the news in stride, for something else had caught her attention. "How did I get into this room? I was with Ari and Jacob when I fell asleep, but now…?" she looked up at the doctor questioningly after glancing around the hospital room in the maternity ward, not the NICU.

"The father of the twins, Mr. Bolton, I believe his name is, came to your room to visit, but, obviously, you weren't here. He found you in the NICU sleeping, and brought you in here with another visitor, the one who was here earlier, with the curly hair."

Gabriella nodded and smiled at the doctor's, giving them their cue to leave. Almost as soon as the door closed, it was opened again by Troy.

"Hey, you're up. Can I, uh, come in?" his voice was quiet and shy.

"No," her voice was flat and nearly emotionless, "You can't. I will raise Aurora and Jacob. I will send them off to college and watch them both get married and start families. I will baby-sit grandchildren. Me. Not you. You are going to get back in your car and go back to New Mexico. You will play basketball and go to school and get a scholarship to a prestigious university. You will graduate, play in the NBA, fall in love get married, and have kids. You will be happy. I will raise the twins, I will go to school at night, I'll be fine. I won't let you be a father now. I don't have a choice, but you do, and I'm making it for you," her voice was strong and steady despite the quaking nervousness she felt inside.

"I don't want to fall in love. I already did. Gabriella, I love you. The only person I want to marry is you. I want to be father to…" his voice trailed off and shame filled his face as he realized he didn't know the twins' names.

"Aurora and Jacob," her resolve was crumbling underneath his pleading eyes. Slowly, she got out of bed and made her way over to the door where he stood. As she brushed past him, she whispered, "Follow me." He obliged, trailing behind her quietly.

The solemn pair made their way into the neonatal intensive care unit and over to their children. "This," Gabriella said, caressing the plastic crib, "Is Aurora. That is a chest tube. It's keeping her lung from collapsing. Her lungs are severely under developed. She can't breath on her own." She turned to the crib on her other side. "Over here is Jacob. He's doing very well, considering. No major health problems." She turned back to face Troy.

"These are my children. Someday, if you still want, they'll be your children too. But not now. I am a mother now, but I won't let you be a father. One day, I don't know when, I will give you the opportunity to be a father. I will call you and tell you that they are your children too. If you don't think you can be a father to these babies then, it won't make any difference to me. You will get the chance to be a father someday. But not now," she finished speaking and walked quietly out of the room and into her own room in the maternity ward, leaving him alone. When she got to her room, Chad was waiting there for her.

"Talk to Troy," she spoke first, not giving him an opportunity to say anything, "When I come back, and someday I will, then you will be an uncle, if that is what you want. I 'm not going to distract you from your life. That is what matters. Now get off my bed."

She slid underneath the covers and closed her eyes, feeling Chad kiss her platonically on the forehead. "We'll be waiting Gabriella," he whispered as he walked out the door. She dozed off, dreaming of what could be.

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Ta-da! I'm not all that proud of this chapter, it was done a little haphazardly. Most likely, the next chapter will be set in the future. As always, review are greatly appreciated!


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